FLINT — Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton has charged a 16-year-old Montrose teenager related to the February car crash that took the life of Flint Police Captain Collin Birnie. Prosecutor Leyton filed a petition in Genesee County Family Court requesting that the teen be designated as an adult for trial in Family Court on two felonies: manslaughter with a motor vehicle and reckless driving causing death. Both felonies carry a maximum possible penalty of 15 years in prison.
According to the police investigative reports, at approximately 6 p.m. on February 4., the teen was driving a Chevrolet Traverse southbound on North Elms Road near Mt. Morris Road in Mt. Morris Township when he attempted to pass several vehicles, while traveling at a very high rate of speed. As the vehicles he was passing slowed to allow him back into the southbound lane, the teen’s vehicle began to sway and he lost
control and crossed back into the northbound lane striking a Chevrolet Tahoe that was
being driven by Captain Birnie.
Captain Birnie, who was on duty at the time, was taken to a local hospital where he
died.
In Michigan, upon conviction the Family Court may pursue several different options
including full adult adjudication with adult sentencing, applying a blended sentence
which would include sending the juvenile offender to a juvenile facility until age 21 at
which time the court would decide whether the individual’s adult sentence should be
suspended, or commit the offender to a juvenile facility until the age of 21.
16-Year-Old Montrose teen charged in fatal crash that killed Flint Police Captain Collin Birnie
